Tompkins County aid flowing to Sandy-ravaged areas

Nov. 2, 2012

The Funtime Pier in Seaside Heights, N.J. is shown before and after superstorm Sandy made landfall on the Jersey Shore. Tompkins County organizations are reachign out to those affected in New York City and New Jersey. / Associated Press

ITHACA — As the recovery effort continues to grind along across the Eastern Seaboard in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, organizations in Tompkins County are rallying to help.

Barry Stein, executive director of Tompkins County Red Cross, said his organization is primarily focusing its energies on blood drives and soliciting donations.

“We’ve received numerous calls from people who want to volunteer and go to the East Coast and help in any way they can. There’s an incredible need there,” Stein said. But people wishing to assist victims of the storm don’t need to leave the county to help.

“We’re trying to schedule as many blood drives as we can. As of late yesterday afternoon, 360 blood drives have been canceled in 13 states and the District of Columbia (because of the storm), and the expected shortfall is 12,000 units. You’re looking at a significant shortage.”

The Red Cross has so far scheduled 33 blood drives in the next month in the Ithaca and Cortland region. The next will be from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, at Kendal at Ithaca.

The Red Cross is directing people who are looking to donate food, clothing or other goods to the Salvation Army, which, like the Red Cross, also accepts monetary donations.

“They’re saying this is going to be one of, if not the costliest disaster in U.S. history,” said Stein, estimating a possible total of $20 billion. “And all that money hasn’t been raised yet. Organizations like the Red Cross are dipping into their reserves. ... We need to replenish that money so it’s there the next time people need it.”

Stein said the Red Cross also has been working with the United Way, the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, Cornell University and Cayuga Medical Center, which has been promoting opportunities to donate. The center also offered to send a number of health care workers to New Jersey or New York City.

The American Red Cross in Central New York already has called down 20 to 30 of its trained volunteers to be deployed to affected areas, where they will perform damage assessment, client case work and related health services. Not only do they assist with storm victims’ physical and mental health, they also provide comfort items, such as stuffed animals and coloring books to children, according to Kevin Carpenter, emergency services manager for Cayuga, Cortland and Tompkins counties.

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The organization is holding a “spontaneous volunteer” training session today in Syracuse. People who have pre-registered for the nine-hour class will be immediately sent for a two-week deployment to the East Coast. The volunteers will work in shelters and help provide hot meals and care to residents displaced by the storm.

Carpenter said there are at least 106 Red Cross-supported and independent shelters downstate. And there’s always room for more people to help, however they can.

“I really think the public needs to know how much they’re needed by the Red Cross,” he said.

Help is on the way

Holy Apostles Orthodox Church, at 347 Ridge Road in Lansing, is collecting items to send to disaster relief organizations in New Jersey within the next two weeks. Items sought include nonperishable food, bottled water, clothing, winter coats, gloves, hats and scarves, shoes and boots, personal hygiene items and toiletries, and gift cards.

Cornell has established a blog at relief.cornell.edu to help members of the university community assist those in need. And Cornell Cooperative Extension’s New York Extension Disaster Education Network (eden.cce.cornell.edu) links extension educators, emergency managers and community officials by listing resources available around the state. The information covers everything from how to handle power outages to tips for farmers whose land was damaged.

Ithaca College’s Chapel will host a “time of reflection and prayer” from noon to 2 p.m. today during the college’s Family Weekend. And IC’s athletics department will be soliciting donations during all its home events this weekend. Donations will go toward supporting the American Red Cross’s relief efforts.

Meanwhile, students at Tompkins Cortland Community College also will collect donations at its men’s and women’s basketball games at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Nov. 6. They’ll be selling shirts, the proceeds of which will be put toward hurricane relief.

Deborah Mohlenhoff, director of Student Activities at TC3, said the Student Government Association opened its weekly meeting to the whole campus Friday to discuss ways of assisting the hurricane victims.

The challenge is finding the best place to start.

“We’re all kind of in limbo until we know exactly how many of our students were impacted and in what way,” Mohlenhoff said.

One idea that was proposed involves creating a network of faculty, staff and students that could host hurricane victims who can’t get back home for Thanksgiving dinner.

Mohlenhoff also said TC3 is interested in providing outreach to any sister schools in the SUNY system that have been affected by the storm.

Additionally, the school said it would be happy to collaborate with any efforts by Cornell or IC.

“What we’re talking about isn’t going to be something that’s gone off the radar next week,” she said. “We’ll be dealing with this for several months.”